


ma'am this is a public library

by wumbo_requiem



Category: Neo Yokio
Genre: Boys Kissing, Enemies to Lovers, Love/Hate, M/M, kind of, that's all, they mostly just hate each other and there's kissing.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:53:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24690355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wumbo_requiem/pseuds/wumbo_requiem
Summary: “You can’t get everything you want for free, you know, Kazzy. I figured a devout capitalist such as yourself would know that."aka Kaz didn't think going to the library would be cause for his gay awakening.
Relationships: Arcangelo Corelli/Kaz Kaan
Comments: 7
Kudos: 60





	ma'am this is a public library

The breeze ruffles Kaz’s pink locks as he soars over Neo Yokio. Everything looks different from up here. He wouldn’t choose any method of transportation over riding on the back of his mecha butler. His ride touches down on the ground, in front of the library.

“Is here alright, sir?” The mecha asks.

“Here’s perfect, Charles.” Kaz jumps off with a grunt, patting down his cable knit sweater. 

“I’ll be back around six, then?”

“That should be lots of time!” Kaz checks his watch- he has half an hour, which is plenty. “See you!” He waves as Charles jets off into the sky. Then, he turns and walks into the library.

This isn’t just any local library, it’s the largest and most prestigious one in Neo Yokio- well, as prestigious as a place that offers free books can be.

He gets searching right away. In his back pocket is a list of books Aunt Agatha sent him out to look for. That’s why he’s here, he reminds himself. For her.  _ Not _ to browse comic books. He needs to stop getting so distracted.

Just as he’s about to round the corner of the adult fiction section, he spots him on the other side of the shelf. He can’t see all of the man’s face due to the books in the way, but there’s no mistaking it! This blond hair, these dress shoes, this hideous purple suit, it all belongs to his archnemesis, Arcangelo Corelli!

Goddamn it, Kaz thinks, and hurriedly looks for the books his aunt wanted. He isn’t so lucky, though. Arcangelo’s hand taps his shoulder through the shelf, and it almost makes Kaz scream. He jumps back, startled, knocking a number of books off the shelf, which he promptly sets back up.

“Arcangelo!” He says through gritted teeth. “I was not expecting to see you here.”

The blond comes around to his side of the book shelf, now standing beside Kaz. “Kaz Kaan. I didn’t know you could read.” He flips his hair, the smugness radiating from him like a bad smell. Actually, he doesn’t smell bad at all. He smells like Versace Eros. Kaz hates that. He hates that he smells so good.

“Very funny,” Kaz says quietly, which is Library for  _ fuck you _ . There are too many old ladies around that he doesn’t want to offend with his language. Then he spots it- the romance novel tucked under Arcangelo’s arm. He checks and double-checks his list. “Hey, that’s the same book Aunt Agatha was looking for.”

“Oh,  _ is _ it? Tough beans, Kazzy. This was the only copy.”

Kaz is sure Arcangelo’s full of shit, so he goes and checks… no, he was telling the truth. Kaz whips around, trying to grab the book from Arcangelo.

“Hey! Get  _ off _ ! This book is mine!” The blond scoffs.

“Oh,” Kaz snorts, “and what are you even doing reading a woman’s romance novel?”

Arcangelo appears offended. “Oh, Kaz, Kaz,  _ Kaz _ . First, you can’t always assume that romance novels are for  _ women _ . There are some  _ men _ who enjoy them just as much! Don’t be such a herb! Second, it’s not for me. It’s for…”

Kaz’s gaze pierces him. 

“Alright, fine, it’s for me. Which means I’ll be taking it, so, bye bye.”

Arcangelo spins on his heel, starting to leave, but Kaz grabs a fistfull of his jacket, pulling him backwards. They collide and Kaz suddenly doesn’t know what his plan was. Did he even have one in the first place.

“Look, Arcangelo,” he says into his ear, “I need this book more. Aunt Agatha is dying of boredom and she's making me suffer, too! She needs this stupid book more than you do!” 

“Well, you’ll have to pay for it.” Arcangelo taps his finger against his chin.

Kaz lets go of him, letting him turn around to face him again. “Say, what?  _ Pay _ you? This is a library, books are free.”

“Yes, but if  _ you _ want the book, which I’m  _ not letting go of _ , you’ll have to pay,” Arcangelo says with a shiteating grin. Kaz isn’t sure what he means. He isn't giving the brat his hard earned money, that's for sure. 

“How about, if you  _ don’t _ give me the book, I’ll tweet about how you read  _ novels made for old ladies _ .” 

Arcangelo snorts. “And what good will that do? Do you expect my rank on the bachelor board to drop? ‘Cause girls love a sensitive guy.”

Kaz sighs. The enemy, once again, has him beat.

“Fine, then, what do you want, Arcangelo?”

“I want you…” He leans forward, cupping his hand around Kaz’s ear as he whispers, “to kiss me. Here in this library.”

“What?!” Kaz looks around, realizing his voice is too loud. He repeats himself in a whisper. “What?! What the hell, Arcangelo? W-what if people saw that?” His head is spinning. He can’t imagine why Arcangelo would  _ want _ that- he hates Kaz, after all. First the girly novel and now this… what kind of guy is Arcangelo? And why, for one millisecond, did Kaz consider obliging? Is he that way, too? What’s the word…

“Well, Kaz, what’s it gonna be?” Arcangelo waits with his arms crossed, looking expectantly at him. His green gaze is intense, entitled, like he already knows the answer he’s gonna get. Kaz hates him. He hates that he knows. 

“I… sure, fine, whatever. It’s a weird request, but I  _ guess _ if we don’t get caught, nothing happened, right?” His heart is racing. There are so many people just floating around in this library. Their aisle is empty, for now, but all of that could change in a split second, and… well, he already said yes. He has to do it either way. “So how do we…” 

Arcangelo scoffs. “Silly Kaz. Never kissed a girl? But I thought you were dating that Cathy girl.”

“I  _ was _ dating Cathy, thanks for the reminder. But you’re a _guy_ ,” he retorts, feeling it should be obvious.

“It’s the same thing.” Arcangelo gently cups Kaz’s cheek, which burns under his touch. “Trust me…”

  
  


Oh, god. Arcangelo is leaning in, and before Kaz can protest further, he’s closing the gap between them. Everything within him turns upside down. He’s conflicted with emotions because while he despises Arcangelo’s East Side guts, this really isn’t so bad. The kiss lasts for a little longer than five seconds, and they break apart. 

Kaz is  _ painfully _ aware of how hard he’s blushing. He’s sweating, too. “L-let me have it, the book,” he says, flustered. Arcangelo laughs at him.

“Not so fast.”

“Excuse me?” Kaz breathes.

“I said, back up a little, dummy. I never said we were done.” 

Kaz’s eyes flicker downward. “Then why’d you stop?”

“I just wanted to see if you liked it,” he says honestly. The smugness is all but wiped out of his tone, until he opens his mouth again. “Clearly, you did.”

Kaz chews on his lower lip. He can still taste Arcangelo’s minty chapstick. Ew. It tastes good, but like it tastes like  _ him _ . “I never said that I did.”

“You don’t have to. Your face says it all.”

“Shut up!!” Kaz clenches his fists at his side. He’s had enough! God! He can’t wait to leave this stinking library, and never come back again. He hasn’t even gotten all the books, yet. Arcangelo is just wasting his time. 

“You ready for another one?” 

As if sent by god, an angel appears in the form of a middle-aged lady, who has come into the aisle looking for a novel. She side-eyes them. Kaz realizes he’s standing way too close to Arcangelo still. They both shuffle out of the aisle, tension thick between them. 

“Just drop it, Arcangelo… I’ll find the book at a store, or something, just…” He looks over, and Arcangelo is frowning.

“Aw, but I promised you another one! Your loss, I guess...”

“No, jackass, you promised me the  _ book _ ,” Kaz growls. He watches as Arcangelo checks out the book. He checks out his own, too. Then they’re walking out of the library, both disappointed.

“Last chance, Kaz. Behind the library. C’mon, I’ll give you the book,” he teases, waving it above Kaz’s head, and then yanking it out of reach.

Kaz mulls it over in his head. There’s a chance he’s being sincere, after all. The first one wasn’t so bad, if it was a little out of his comfort zone. 

“Okay, but we have to make it quick.” He glances at his watch. Actually, he has fifteen more minutes to spare, but the more urgent he pretends this is, the faster he gets out of it.

Arcangelo grabs his wrist and leads him out to the back of the building, where nobody’s parked. Good, they’re alone, Kaz thinks. Arcangelo leans him against the wall a little too hard, causing Kaz to wince.

“Hey, watch my fucking sweater! The fabric might snag!” He whines. At least he's allowed to be loud out here.

“Boo-hoo, you can buy another one with your rat-catcher money,” Arcangelo teases. He chucks the book aside, pinning Kaz hard against the wall before Kaz can reach for it. “Now let me kiss that pout off your face. It so doesn't match your outfit.” With that, he smooshes his lips against Kaz’s more forcefully than before. Kaz isn’t ready. He kisses him back angrily, rage fueling him by this point. He wants to push Arcangelo away, make him make out with Kaz’s fist, rather than his mouth. 

But he doesn’t do that. His body isn’t responsive to his angry impulses. He just keeps kissing him back, unsure what else to do. What is he supposed to do with his hands, anyway? He guesses putting them on Arcangelo’s shoulders seems right… huh. It really isn’t so bad. He can feel the anger fizzing out of him with each second that passes. He’s pink mush in Arcangelo’s grabby little hands. 

This kiss is much longer than the first one. Arcangelo pulls away, and stands back. He doesn’t try to stop Kaz from getting the book, he doesn’t say anything either. Kaz pants, looking at him.

“What? That’s it?” He covers his mouth, wishing he hadn’t said that. “I mean- ugh, we’re finally done, right?” He walks over and picks up the book, relieved that at last it’s his. Though, it’s checked out on Arcangelo’s account. How’s he gonna explain that if he gets asked?

Arcangelo smirks. “Why? Did you want more? I’m not made of time, Kazzy! I got places to be. I can’t spend all evening like this!”

Kaz fumes. “That’s not what I meant! Ugh! I’m  _ glad _ you can’t, because I would  _ hate _ to kiss you again! It’s  _ gross _ that you put me through this.”

“You can’t get everything you want for free, you know, Kazzy. I figured a devout capitalist such as yourself would know  _ that _ .” He winks, infuriatingly, as Kaz storms away. 

“I gotta catch my ride. I- I won’t be seeing you later!”

“Whatever!” Arcangelo calls after him. “Later, loser!” 

…

On the ride home, Kaz feels like his stomach is full of butterflies. He can’t stop thinking about it. He doesn’t even want to stop thinking about it. He’s just so confused. It’s almost like Arcangelo has a crush on him or something, or else why would he want to kiss him? But why has he got to be such an asshole about it? It can’t be love, but hatred isn’t any better of an argument. You don’t stick your tongue down the throat of the guy you hate, or do you?

Kaz has bigger fish to fry right now. They land at home, and Kaz realizes that Aunt agatha isn’t going to be happy that he didn’t find all of her books. He puts on a brave face, fixes his hair, and goes in.

“I’m home, Aunt Agatha!” He calls. 

“I’m in the living room!” She barks in response. 

Kaz enters the living room, and finds his aunt sitting with a glass of wine, reading the day’s paper. She brightens when she sees him holding the books.

“Oh, you got my books! Hand em over.” He does, and her brow furrows. “Mm. You missed a few.”

Kaz holds his breath, waiting to be scolded.

“But, I suppose it doesn’t matter. These are plenty for now.”

He exhales. “Glad I could help. I’ll be in my room, now-”

“Wait just a moment. You smell like-” Agatha sniffs the air- “Versace Eros. The fuck, have you been hanging out with that Corelli kid?”

“No! What!” he laughs, rubbing the back of his neck. “How do you know what Arcangelo smells like?” He eyes her suspiciously.

“He wears it often,” she shrugs. “Sometimes I run into him. Most times he says he’s on his way to visit you.”

Kaz rolls his eyes. “More like to bother me! That’s all he ever does!” With a huff, Kaz runs up to his room, and flops on his bed. He covers his mouth with his pillow; “UUUUUGGHHH!” Man, it feels good to get that out. He puts the pillow back under his head and lays there, staring up at the ceiling.

The day’s bizarre events begin to replay in his mind, against his will, and a smile creeps on his face. 

Weird as the circumstances may be, he kissed Arcangelo Corelli, and it felt pretty good. Maybe it means something, maybe it doesn’t. But he knows they both liked it, despite all the namecalling and so forth, so that’s gotta count for something.

Kaz pulls his phone out of his pocket and opens messages, tapping on his conversation with Arcangelo. (It ended last week, in a fight and an unappreciated ;) face.)

Kaz types ‘hey, today wasn’t so bad’ and deletes it. ‘Hey, arcangelo, just wanted to say,’ delete. This is such a slippery slope. He doesn’t know what to say but at the same time, he feels it would be wrong to say nothing.

Then, a message from Arcangelo interrupts his train of thought. Kaz swears his heart is stopped for a second.

He reads it: ‘hey kaz. next time let’s meet somewhere else, k? ;)’

The butterflies come back, and he’s shaking as he texts back: ‘oh yeah? When?’

Kaz turns his phone off and holds it to his chest, closing his eyes. Whatever Arcangelo has to say can wait, he’s physically too excited to read it. He smiles. 

If this is love then it’s pretty goddamn weird. 

**Author's Note:**

> this tag is dry as fuck, drink up.   
> feel free to leave feedback as well!


End file.
